I like Dungeon Keeper, and that game never gave me the feeling of being a babysitter. Now, I don’t know if any of you have ever played Black&White from the same maker, but that game totally misses the mark for me. Here you're supposed to be a god, with the choice of being a benevolent or an evil god and the people should worship you. The game never makes me feel like a god, as I'm constantly looking after 'my people' who not only complain if they need food or wood, they even ask you to help them have sex. They whine and nag and if you ignore them they actually don't grow to the numbers you need in order for you to get more powers.

I would like to ask you to not go into this direction for OpenDungeons, don't make me feel like I'm a babysitter and my creatures are annoying. So far, this is not the case but there are two things that make me worry:

There are some voice alerts that warn you if you haven't build a lair/hatchery and they strongly imply your creatures are nagging, as 'those weaklings' need food.

On githup you've posted the story you're going for (click here to read) and the creature needs are described there as 'constant bitching'.

I think approaching creature needs in a positive light is a much more pleasant experience for players, so the tone of voice should be "Build an exquisite dungeon to lure creatures in, and make them happy and strong to defeat any opponent.", not "You need creatures to defeat your opponent but unfortunately you need to take care of them, pay them and keep them happy or they will whine and leave".Both are true, but only the first one shares the feeling the player should have when playing this game. If you don't like taking care of and training your creatures you should play another game, so let's not pretend otherwise.

Since you are evil and they are expendable we play it as being a necessary nuisance for any overlord, "Build an exquisite dungeon to lure creatures in, and make them happy and strong to defeat any opponent", it makes me think of raising ponies. We have to put up a funny evil facade, also i dont care that much about them or if they are happy as long as they work and dont leave i coulndt care less about their bitching. And thats what most people do in Dk in similars since otherwise you would be taking lots of pain to keep happy creatures that die way too easy.(like the workshippers of B&W) Its all about stricking a balance and i think we are close to it.

Honestly, if you have ever had a power position i guess you have meet the omnipresent lazyass worker thats needs constant prodding. Its the same here, you are digging 50% of time, figthing 40% and 10% prodding your creatures into work. But that prodding is optional, as long as they have the basics for their neccesities they wont annoy you much, your prodding is only to raise a bit their performance.